The Shaythis chronicles
Warning! The following content is mature in nature. It contains written depicitons of violence, sexuality, and gore. By pressing "I Accept" you agree that you understand that what you are about to read is graphic and may be upsetting.
Warning! The following link depicts violence, nudity and sexual themes. By proceeding you are confirming that you are of the Legal age to view such material
“Winterblades!” Called out a Night Elf Huntress, Yl’sea the leader of the Cadre named after her own family name. “Prepare yourselves, we are heading out come the first starlight.” She huffed, shifting her armored body, donning a far more intricate outfit than the rest of her uniform cadre of Sentinels beneath her. A dark purple hood cloaked her stern sounding face in shadows, matching shoulder pads bore snow white feathers along their rim, showing rank and seniority, and thick, plated riding boots crushed the dirt beneath her feet as she went down the ranks inspecting supplies and gear. “The war down south is only growing more intense, the Silithid are growing bold, and it has been stated that for everyone that falls two more rise. We are unsure as to why these bugs are causing such a problem, but alongside them are massive stone constructs. Corrupt and dangerous.” Her gaze turned towards the waning sun and a sigh left her lips. “The Dragons have taken our side in this war, rallied under the Bronze flight.”A younger elf, barely an adult turned on her heel and began to gather up her supplies, mumbling lightly to herself when a hand pressed down on her shoulder. “Worry not my love, I will keep you safe.” A voice, soft and soothing hummed out, betraying the heavy plate armor that covered her body. A large shield sat, hooked on her back and a short and heavy blade rested along her waist, seeming rather eager to cleave through something.“Eyaena.” The younger elf murmured out, her head turning up and over to face her juggernaut styled counterpart. Matted green hair draping over her seemingly tear stained face. Before Eyaena could react, she found herself wrapped up and intertwined in the embrace of the claw marked girl below her. The plates on her body shifted and seemed to squeeze down on the joints as she nearly had the air constricted out of her body from the tight hug. The dull noise of sobbing rang throughout her long, pointed ears and the hand that once rested upon her mate’s shoulder moved down to lay about her spine.“Come along poppet, perhaps a walk to clear our mind before we reach that accursed desert would be wisest. I am sure that our valiant leader would not mind our absence for too long.” She purred out, a finger tucking under Shaythis’ chin and pushing her face upwards to more fully reveal her face, a hand coming in to wipe away the hair that draped down over her visage to show the clear, wet streaks that glimmered under the setting sun. “Perhaps we might be able to convince the Night warrior in aiding us when the time comes.”Indeed, Yl’sea would not mind their disappearing. She watched from a perch with the cadre’s beasts beside her. An odorous pipe dangling from her mouth, wafting smoke up into the air. “H-huntress…” A voice piped up behind her, Ifi Wintertrust, who much like Shaythis was a young, barely an adult Sentinel, no doubt facing her first ever conflict.“What is it, young blade?” The huntress huffed out, her voice deepened by the exhaling of smoke as she spoke and turned around to face the teal haired, pale skinned girl that approached her.“I u-uh I have accounted for our rations, and arrows. We have enough water stored to make it to Silithus, one hundred thousand arrows and enough food to last us the next three moon cycles.” Ifi forced out, through a fearful stutter. “Our caravans are fully loaded and we are prepared to depart on your order.”“Excellent.” The huntress nodded, turning back to glance over to where the two had walked off. “Tell the rest of the Cadre that they have until the moon stands fully above us to pray, sleep, eat or whatever they will.” She gave the girl a dismissive hand, and Ifi turned to walk off with an equally stuttered out ‘Yes ma’am’.“Oh, and Ifi?” The Huntress picked back up. “Worry not, I have led this cadre through worse foes than oversized beetles.” She offered the girl a short smile and turned to continue smoking from her pipe.Deeper into the thick woods, the two elves had found themselves sitting next to one another by a pond. Shaythis leaning herself against her plated love, her Eyaena. The worries of war, all but at the back of her mind for the moment. “When we get back to Winterspring, we’ll find ourselves a nice little cabin, far away from everyone. High enough to see the snowy valley below, and so we can look out over Azshara.” The girl seemed to ramble on as she stared out over the pond.“So a cabin where you and I would always sneak out to, then?” Eyaena snickered, lightly pinching at Shay’s exposed side, causing the girl to squeak and squirm.“Eep!” Shay yelped out, a fist firmly smacking against her mate’s chestplate. “Yeah, that seems nice. And we can have a library, so I can finally have a place for all of my father’s books.” She nodded.“The ones on druidism? Pah, I don’t know why you have such an interest in those, all they do is nap.” Eyaena teased. “Plus, didn’t your father study under one of the Druids of the pack before they were all banished? That’d explain why he is a bit… Off?”With a snort, Shay shoved Eyaena and shrugged. “He would always talk about Goldrinn, and sought a way to commune with him but I doubt he was ever insane enough to follow the pack! Plus, if he did he’d be with the rest of em, not there to see us off from the family stead!”“If it wasn’t for him, then why do you pray to such wild gods, like Goldrinn and Agamaggan instead of Elune herself? I doubt Ashamane can offer you the same guidance as our mother moon.”“Well, my father might have taught me a few things about the Wilds, that is why I am here in the first place. I am the best tracker that you’ve ever met!” She exclaimed out, in a boastful yet teasing voice before adding on. “But, anyone can track an oaf like you.”“Yes, yes. My little assassin, my dagger in the night who has yet to see any use.” The warrior huffed, before resigning herself to silence, simply opting to sit with her beloved and stare out to the pond, focusing hard to try and count the fish that swam around in seemingly mindless and random patterns.Shaythis, following suit on peering into the pond took an indignant face to the fact that she was a war virgin. It was with a strong desire to ‘show up’ her mate that she dove face first into the pond and darted after one of the schools of fish, snatching one up with her hand and placing it into her mouth before she surfaced in the water’s face and swam back to her beloved to spit the flopping fish right at her face. “Pah!” she snorted.“...Good job! You caught a -big, scary, mean-... Fish.” Eyaena looked down at the catch and held it up to the setting sun to appraise the catch. “Can you even call this a fish?” She followed up, questioning with a sarcastic skepticism. Her wrist flicked off to the side to cast the creature back into the water. “Come my love, shall we start heading back. We can take the scenic route to help you dry off.” She snickered, moving to stand at the water edge to help the clambering Shay out of the pond’s shore.“Look at you, Shaythis. All wet for nothing.” Eyaena produced a false frown as she stepped in, pressing right up against her mate with her face shifting to a grin. Her plated hands moving down to the Nightblader’s side, slowly trailing up to hook fingers into her harness.“Hey what are you do-” Shay was interrupted by the sharp tug upwards of her harness being yanked off, followed by the tugging off of her bandeau. The warrior before her had then brought herself down to her knees to begin working on her love’s pants.“We still have a few hours to spare my dear, the moon still hasn’t even come out. Let alone sat directly above our head. We have plenty of time to let your clothes dry, and to help -you- relax for the upcoming war.” She teased, leaning in to plant a tongue filled kiss right on Shay’s navel.Reasoning enough, Shay’s expression turned to match the devious grin of her mate as she offered a tight grip around her lover’s hair, pulling her head right up against the flesh.Shortly into the no doubtedly lewd happenings, would another one of the assassin types of the Cadre appear in one of the tree tops, Ilae Nightbreach contentedly found herself perched on a branch watching the entire thing unfold. Having been sent to relay a message to the departed elves, she opted to wait and enjoy the opportunity of voyeurism before she made her presence known.Ilae, would (un)fortunately be observing in silence for what was easily several hours of pure passion before the two elves began to redress themselves. Once the two were at least somewhat proper the assassin dropped from the tree and approached them. “Huntress Winterblade wants you to know that we’re meeting up with the Forestsong Cadre to cover their artillery while we enter the silithid controlled lands. We will be coming into the fight from the side to clear a path so we can route the foe and set up a forward foothold.”Reasonably, Eyaena and Shay were both surprised at Ilae’s sudden entrance. “How long have-” Eyaena started before Shay jabbed her in the side, laughing a little bit. “Long enough, my dear.” She nodded towards her fellow Nightblade.“It is best that we return to the camp.” The warrior grunted out, moving to walk with Shaythis back towards Ilae and to the camp where they were preparing to depart.With in a matter of hours, the small unit of Elves were on the move. Yl’sea Winterblade, the leader and huntress of her self-named Cadre sat at the front in the of a dark, Kodo drawn wagon, next to her were the two Nightblades, Shaythis Shadowgrove and Ilae Nightbreach, assassins and scouts for the cadre. Followed by Eyaena Frostwalker the plated juggernaut of the group, across from her and next to Ilae was Ifi Wintertrust, the Cadre’s quartermaster and local artillery expert. At the rear of the wagon sat one of the Archers, Uthyny Autumnspirit with the other, archer Jymunn Dewdance driving the wagon. Their supplies rattled and shook as they were mostly strapped down to the floor and side bags of the wagon, beasts following loyally behind having been well enough trained to not stray from the caravan.By the break of dawn they would be meeting up with the Forestblade Cadre and then by noon they both would be on their way to the battle in Silithus.To be continued...
Chapter II: The Fate of the WinterbladesNearly a whole millenia had passed since the war’s end, yet the memories were still fresh in the mind of Ifi Wintertrust, one of the few survivors of the Winterblade Cadre. Alongside with its Huntress, Yl’sea Winterblade.The ear splitting shrieks of terror as one of their own, Ilae Nightbreach lost her mind to whatever dark force resided beneath the sands of Silithus and turned on her allies, the first to go was Jmyunn Dewdance who was found with her throat slit after failing to make her patrol. Uthyny’s demise at the claws of Silithid was likely the cause of Ilae’s fall, as everyone had reported seeing her in the distance beckoning to them, long after her body was shipped back to Hyjal and she was buried.Ifi knew that she’d have been the next to fall to Ilae’s dagger, had it not been for Eyaena intercepting and taking the jagged blade straight to her gut, holding her back long enough for Yl’sea to place an arrow straight through the back of the Nightblade’s throat with a pained chagrin. By elune these attacks were growing all too common throughout the camps, it seemed almost as if as many Kaldorei perished by their own demented kin as they did the scores of unrelenting bugs that constantly assaulted the front.A sharp breath escaped the Quartermaster as she shot up in her bedroll, the huntress beside her stirring and tightening the wrap around her to try and keep warm in the frigid lands that they found themselves in. “Yl’se-” Ifi was interrupted by a loud snore from the resting huntress, and in turn she resigned herself to a sigh, opting to instead push herself out of the bedroll to do the fast crab walk over to relieve herself in a nearby bush. Pale silver eyes turned up towards the full moon above her. “Elune, if you can hear me… Please do not let these rumors be true. Please let that poor child be with you and her beloved.” There was a pause as she forced out the name. “Eyaena.” The flood gate of memories already breaking open once more, and soon the Quartermaster found herself crumpled up in the snow, sobbing.Even with her wound to the gut from the fallen Sentinel, Eyaena forced herself into the front. Battering her dented and tarnished armor against swarms of Silithid. Her blade having been modified with a slightly curved spike made it somewhat easier for her to pierce the thick chitin that seemed to bounce most arrows off of it. With a roar of defiance the guardian drove forward, pushing scores of bugs back for those behind her to rush in and try to gain a few feet of ground in the tireless battle.Doing her best to suppress the cries, Ifi tucked her knees up to her breast and wrapped her arms around them. “No…” she whimpered out, shaking as the horrific moments kept coming. Trapped in a hell of her own design her will faltered and she cried out once more. They were all young at the time, kids even. Unprepared for the war, or its consequences. But the duty of their people called them forward to serve and lay down their lives for some heroic cause.A colossal Silithid smashed itself through the ranks, trampling its own and using its massive, scythe like arms to launch any in its way off to the side. Eyaena rushed forward to meet the creature head on and in all but a flash one of the great insect’s legs struck her. Piercing through shield, arm and breastplate its foot found her heart and impaled her to the ground.From the back of the ranks, an angered cry roared out as a green haired elf ran forward. A dirty bandage ran across her forehead, covering one of her eyes in a fibrous gauze, blood still seeping through the wound that had been inflicted earlier in the battle. And before anyone could stop her death march, the young fighter had thrown herself against the Colossi, wielding Eyaena’s hooked blade and one of her own. The hooked weapon jammed itself down into the top carapace of the Colossus and pried it open to reveal the webbed brain. A scream of pain left the creature as Shaythis tore right into the grey matter with her other weapon, her body seeming to sink into the bug’s own as she shredded and ripped at the pulsating mass until its shell dropped over to the ground, dead and defeated. Blinded by a battle rage though, she marched on, far beyond the reach of any of her allies as she berserked her way through hordes of insects like some living blender.That was the last that Ifi had ever laid eyes upon her friend and comrade in arms. Countless silithid closing in around her and swarming her until she disappeared in a sea of red and black chitin. The battle though, kept raging on and once the creatures were pushed back and the ground was claimed, the Huntress Yl’sea and Ifi departed to where they had last seen their missing Winterblade only to find Eyaena’s broken sword and scraps of a Kaldorei tabard.Unbeknownst to them though, Shaythis was still mostly alive. Her armor in ruins, body broken and she could only crawl across the sand. Her armor growing heavy, forcing her to abandon it, leaving a trail that she could only hope that one of the Sentinel patrols would find and come for her. The hot sand raked against her bared body as she threw one hand forward and pulled her body forward. “Goldrinn, deliver me from this curse.” She muttered to herself before blacking out.“It is not your time.” a voice rang out in the Sentinel’s head, stirring her from her slumber. “ARISE!” the voice snarled out in the back of her mind causing Shaythis to leap up to her broken legs. A sharp hiss left her as she crumpled back to the ground, unable to truly stand. “FIGHT!” the voice demanded as the ground beneath her shook and from the sand several large reavers erupted to the surface looking to tear apart an easy target. “Your goddess will not save you… Fight or die.” The voice seethed out, filling the Sentinel with an uncontrollable rage. “Give in to me, and I shall grant you the power to survive. But you must prove yourself.” With her new found guidance the sentinel pulled herself towards the insects, meeting them face to face.CRASH! A rock in hand smashed against the armored face of one of the creatures, taking it down to the ground and with a sickening crunch and cracks its horn was pried off its still twitching body and used as a makeshift dagger to spear through the softer under piece of another ravager that came upon Shaythis, pinning her down and tearing open several gashes across her body. “GRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” the warcry shrieked out as the beast slumped off to the side, the rock and horn being used as a hammer and nail to pierce its body. And before she could react another was upon her, its pointed feet smashing into the sand beside her head rapidly. Its body twitching against hers, raking her with the leg spines. Its face neared her and a mouthful of needles descended upon her face, a spike like tongue drove down into her good eye causing it to pop in a gory explosion of fluid and viscera. A pained yelp left the Sentinel as she wrapped her arms around the ravager’s body and threw her weight to the side, knocking the beast off kilter and taking it and herself down the long, bumpy fall to the bottom of Un’goro crater.By some miracle or perhaps divine intervention, Shaythis’ fall was mostly broken by the beast that had taken her good, remaining eye. Its cracked and ruined body providing decent cushioning as she crashed against the grassy and muddy floor. Flames of pain shot through her body as she rolled off the dead silithid, her hands clawing up at her face as she convulsed and screamed in hellish agony. The bandage over her previously damaged eye all but departed and in the midst of her thrashing she felt the sharp thrust of her fingernail in the wet socket. The resistance that should have been there, wasn’t, but the pain was.“You survived… I am surprised.” The voice came back to her, seeming to echo from all directions. Invading her ears as the screams of a thousand dying voices. “Come to me, I will grant you my power. Come…” It beckoned, and almost instinctively the blinded elf began to crawl in no particular direction.“They have abandoned you, left you to your fate. They could not save your beloved, no. Neither could you, you weren’t fast enough. Not strong enough. Through me I will make you strong.” The voice cackled. “All you have to do is find me. Easy enough, no?”“But how?”“You know the way, you just don’t remember. Do not let your pain distract you, no let it guide you.”There was than silence, and no matter how many incoherent calls Shaythis let out she could not find any answer. Her body grew used to the pain, enough for her to force movement. The Silithid’s legs should be useful for something! Crunches and cracks as she tore off its spined legs. Hisses and growls as she began to try and set her own, using the hollowed out shells as greaves to help keep her bones in place through tight pressure. Grasses were thrust into the broken carapace to make it even tighter, vines tied tightly around the outside of the improvised splints to keep it together. The creature’s meat, provided some sustenance, how ever foul and greasy it might taste. The gritty oil tearing at her throat, stinging and scratching as it went down.With a belly full of silithid meat, Shaythis began the arduous and excruciating journey through the dense, swampy jungle of the Un’goro crater, armed only with a body spike of the Silithid that she had tumbled down to this gods forsaken land with. “Closer, you are getting closer.” The voice rang out in the back of her mind, driving her forward as her sole inspiration. Minutes turned into hours, and into days and eventually weeks before Shaythis lost the ability to keep track of time. Had it been months, years, centuries? The more she wandered, the more she heard the voice calling to her, though never finding its source. But she was slowly starting to become more aware of the land around her, and her leg grew strong once more. Before she even realized, the blinded elf was running at full speed through the dense swamps, maneuvering through trees and underbrush with ease.“STRIKE!” the voice boomed, and before she could even think, Shaythis had pounced upon a scaly beast off to her right, the silithid horn breaking right through the hide of its throat and shattering with in its body. The raptor thrashed and flailed around as Shaythis found herself mounted on its back. Her hands bashed against the bleeding wound along the beast’s neck, her teeth tried in vain to rip through the thick skin of her prey.To say that her kill was clean and quick, was a bold faced lie. No, the raptor took off in a panicked sprint, trying its best to throw Shaythis from his back. The Elf’s arms wrapped around the beast as it ran for miles in a frenzy until it would eventually succumb to blood loss and exhaustion. Only then did the creature finally die and collapse with a skid to the ground, launching Shaythis a good several feet into the mud.Upon regaining herself, Shaythis brought herself over to her kill and began to use all of her strength to tear into the creature, a sharp piece of obsidian that littered the ground from the volcano’s fallout served her great purpose in exposing the soured and fouled meat that would sustain her for several nights. The raptor’s nails, teeth and bones were fashioned into crude weapons, and its tattered hide draped over her body for warmth as she began the trek to escape the crater.Meanwhile, now in winterspring, Ifi and Yl’sea buried their comrades upon the mountain’s edge. A special grave was erected for the two lost lovers, Eyaena’s body laid to rest and the recovered gear that belonged to Shaythis placed next to her. Pictures, drawings and gifts between the two buried with the two to have and share together while nestled in Elune’s embrace. The families of the two lovers attended the funeral in the front beside the Huntress and her surviving cadre member, Ifi. All silently mourning the loss of the two youngest, taken from this world all too soon.“AWAKEN!” the voice shouted “One approaches, defend yourself!” Shaythis was on her feet and snarling as an elderly man of pocked purple skin approached her.“Easy child.” The male’s voice muttered out in a hushed and oddly soothing tone. “I seek not to harm you, but to care for your wounds, to clothe you and to shelter you from the elements. I sense a power within you, and I know not how long you have been here, but I know that it is not safe.”“There are only predators and prey, which are you?” The voice in the back of Shaythis’ mind reminded her, and before Nedris could respond he was pounced upon by the blind elf. Her claws tearing gashes into his chest, her teeth ripping out chunks of flesh, her forehead bashing itself repeatedly against his face.“GAH BY MALORNE’S ANTLER WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” the druid snapped, a flourish of vines sprouted from the ground to bind up the aggressing elf in a dull flash of green. With his threat somewhat contained, the druid fell back to his rear and grunted, a hand moving up to begin sealing his wounds with similar vine and foliage all fueled by the vibrant nature magics he wielded. “Struggle all you want, girl, the more you do the tighter they will get.” He hissed out, giving a dismissive wave to the blind elf.With his wounds somewhat tended to, no doubt he was going to have a few scars though. Nedris walked over towards the bound Shaythis. “What is your name, and why are you out -here- of all places?” The Druid snorted, being met only with the sharp snapping sounds of pointed teeth as she threw all of her weight forward to try and bite the man.“Bah, suit yourself.” the older man growled, firmly jabbing a finger at Shaythis’ gut. “I am going to prepare dinner, and while I do that, you decide if you are going to calm down or not.” With that said, Nedris went about setting up his camp and starting a small campfire and soon the sweet scent of meat and smoke was filling the air.“Shaythis…” The elf muttered out hours later, still bound up in vines that prevented her from killing her captor. “I fought back the Silithid in the desert….”“Hm?” The druid muttered, his ears flicking as he looked back over his shoulder, turning a paler shade of purple. “That war… ended over a hundred and twenty years ago, you are halfway across Kalimdor, how are you still alive?”“A whisper guided me, a call from I know not where leads me. Shelters me, feeds me.” Muscles strained against the vines for a split second before growing lax, a light thrum left her throat as the vines that held her started to loosen and then fall away entirely, sinking back into the earth below her.“The wilds guide you child… Unheard of.” he muttered, and against all rational thought the Druid ran over towards where his attacker was now falling to the ground, exhausted and drained. “You are no druid, but you possess a connection.” A cold piece of cooked rabbit was brought up to her lips. “Here eat then rest, we have much to discuss.”-Dawn broke out over Winterspring, and Ifi found herself nudging Yl’sea with her boot. “We need to move if we are going to catch whatever did this, Huntress.”
“Ugh, Ifi. Whose good idea was it to hunt in the daytime?” Yl’sea groaned as she began placing her armor on.“It was uh.. Yours, Huntress?” Ifi piped up as she threw a saddle over her frostsaber’s back and climbed on. “Do you really think that one of our own could have done this? Is a child of Elune truly capable of turning on one of their own in such a savage way?”Following her underling’s stead, Yl’sea followed suit in climbing upon her companion’s back. “Pah, we will soon find out. But if it is, then perhaps hunting under the sun is a good idea. But if I had to guess, it was likely a rabid furbolg? Or a saber that wandered too far out of its hunting territory.”The two sentinels rode off the beaten path, towards the Frostsaber pridelands. Their eyes scanning the frozen lands around them. An air of hostility surrounded them as they saw that countless younger sabers were stalking them through the lands, seeming to ignore the bonds that their kinds shared. “Huntress, I have a bad feeling about this.” Ifi chimed in, patting the saber that carried her on its back.
“They are merely protecting what is theirs, we won’t be here for too terribly long. These are not like the sabers we raise, Ifi. They are incredibly territorial and not overly welcoming. Many of them have not even seen one of our kind.”Standing on a high hill, an elf garbed in thick furs stepped forward, tailed by an elderly behemoth of a cat. His fur, closely resembling the pelt that covered the blindfolded woman’s body. “An’da, it seems they come to hunt us.” A clawed finger moved down to scratch behind the beast’s ear, eliciting a pleased chuff from his drooling maw.“Come An’da, let us welcome our ‘guests’.” Shaythis grunted and began marching down the far side of the hill, preparing to meet the two Sentinels across the snowy lands they were coming into. A low growl left the beast as he turned to follow his ‘daughter’ as she had come to call herself, the taste of Elf still fresh in his mouth from the recent mauling of this girl’s Shan’do. He never was too fond of that druid.Before the two sentinels could even process their situation, the Hulking frostsaber had tackled Ifi’s mount, his fangs sinking into its throat and throwing the Sentinel riding it to the ground. A group of younger sabers rushed into the battle, all surrounding Yl’sea and her companion, leaving Ifi to her own fate while the Huntress did her best to fend off the attacking sabers.A screech of war filled the air as Shaythis surged towards Ifi, her body smashing against the Sentinel’s own. A clawed hand swiped up to the girl’s face. “LEAVE THIS ONE TO ME AN’DA!” her hoarse voice barked out to the large saber that prepared to leap onto Ifi’s back to finish her off with the same assassin like accuracy that he used to take out her mount.A snarl left the Saber as his body decocked itself and turned towards the other Sentinel that was occupied with the younger hunters of the pride. Barreling through them, ‘An’da’ as he was often called charged directly to his selected foe. Yl’sea’s mount, Theri’doth, an equally imposing saber. In the beat of a heart the two great cats had collided with one another, swiping claws and teeth, tossing and tumbling with one another throughout the snow. The young hunters all ceasing their attacks to surround the group and bear witness to the fight of two true alphas. Fur and blood flying and staining the snow as paws bashed against skulls. The huntress rushed in to try and assist Theri’doth, only to be cut off by a line of the surrounding sabers, all snarling and hissing. One by one, they’d rush at Yl’sea, body checking her and swiping at her legs with only enough force to keep her distracted and contained.Ifi gasped and coughed as a hand pressed harshly against her throat, lifting her off the air. Blood wept from gashes along one side of her horrified face. “It can’t be.” She choked out, nails digging through the flesh of her neck. “Shayth-” she tried to scream out, but before she could finish, the girl was cast off to the ground, her head striking a rock and leaving her motionless.That mutterance though, was all that Yl’sea needed to hear before she turned towards the ‘leader’ of this little ambush, her arm flying up to batter into the chest of one of the leaping Sabers, knocking it back. A face of pure rage as she saw Ifi’s body on the bloodstained ground and the blindfolded, tattoo covered visage of what once was an ally of hers. “HOW?!” She roared out, letting an arrow rip free from her bow. The barbed head of the arrow piercing into Shaythis’ shoulder as she rushed towards the huntress, an earsplitting snarl being the only thing that left her mouth as she bounded over the sabers that encircled the area. Clawed fingers slashed at Yl’sea’s face as she failed to knock another arrow. A foot slammed down on her ankle, causing her to fall to the ground as her bow slapped across the side of Shaythis’ head, sending the elf down as well. Right as Yl’sea drew her belt knife, Shaythis was on top of the Huntress, impaling herself upon the moonsteel blade of the utility knife. Her forehead slamming down to meet the Huntress’ nose. Clawed hands ripped away at the Huntress’ armor, tearing deep scars throughout her body. Stabbing and slashing all that she could, the Huntress found herself swiftly overpowered with a decisive blow to her temple. A loud yelling, groan left her lips as her vision went foggy.Theri’doth gave a final swipe towards the saber he was facing and ran across the ice and snow to where his master was. A bloodied paw swiped up and threw Shaythis to the side as he went in to collect his friend to drag her away from the battle. By now the younger sabers were all swarming around Ifi’s body, seeming to argue with one another who would get the first bite of the elf.Though disoriented the large saber. Ygos’ta or ‘An’da’ as he was called quickly quelled the squabble with a deafening roar, his jaw locking around the girl’s arm and pulling her across the snow back to the dens. His ‘daughter’ would recover eventually, and when she did she would be the one to have her share first...
“Ah, Thero’shan. There you are, I have been searching for you for days.” A tall, elvish figure spoke out gruffly. With a sigh, he continued. “I fear that you spend too much time with beasts, Shaythis. It can lead you down a dangerous path.”The man was seemingly disregarded by the girl he was addressing. A bored and nonchalant expression crossed her face as she reclined against two impressively large frostsabers, Neis’ta and Ygos’ta respectively. “Shan’do Sagebough, you always harp on me about this dangerous path I walk. ‘Oh, you’ll lose your mind and become more beast than elf!’ You always yell whenever you find me bonding with my new family.” The gaunt elf mumbled. “It was you who even showed me this path.”With an irritated grumble the elderly druid stepped forward to grab his Thero by her cloak and pull her up to her feet and away from her frostsaber ‘family’. “Listen here, I found you dashing through the forests blind as a damned bat! You attacked everything that you came across… Including me!” He shoved her back a few paces. “And ever since I started training you, you’ve just become more and more wild. More uncontrollable! You lack balance, Shaythis!”Shaythis recoiled from the shove, letting out a low and beastial growl. “Balance? Shan’do all you’ve gone on about is balance! You’ve yet to teach me anything useful! It is all, respect the wilds this, listen to their call that! You’ve preached how to live in the woods, and went on about things that I already fucking know! You act as if I am some inexperienced child, a novice who has not lived amongst the land for thousands of years!” with a snarl, the blindfolded druidess in training stepped forward to return the shove against her Shan’do, forcing him back with a surprising amount of force and toppling him over onto his back. “Do you know what the wild’s tell me, Nedris?” she snapped, as the two hulking sabers prowl forward to stand protectively in front of their surrogate child, a low grumble in each of their throats as a warning to the man.“What is it that you hear then, Shaythis?” Nedris questioned with a raised brow from his position upon the snowy ground.As she planted her heels into the frozen earth and squatted down behind her overprotective ‘parents’ she retorted in a sharp tongue. “They tell me that you know nothing, they can show me the way faster and better than you can. They’ve granted me the vision to know this to be true, that you are nothing but a senile old fool.”Nedris took in a deep breath as he slowly rose up to stare down at his Thero’shan. “It was against the advice of the others that I took you in as my student. They warned me that you were unstable when I had brought you to the glade. But I insisted that I could help you, that you could be helpful to our cause. The potential you showed in your ability to survive and thrive on your own with such a disability.” He gestured to her blindfold, more for his own satisfaction rather than hoping that she’d see his motion. With an adjustment of the darkened knuckle claws that sat atop his hands her stared her down. “I would advise rethinking your next action, Shaythis. I have walked this path thrice the length of your entire life, and I still have my eyes intact.” he snorted, showing no qualms in returning the acidic remarks to her. “Now come along, we’ve some more lessons to go over today. By my count, a week's worth!” he chortled, stepping closer to his student to grab her by the cloak and tug her along down the snowy path. “Must that damned cloak be the only thing you wear, girl?” he huffed in clear displeasure at her apparent lack of clothing, save for the heavy cloth cloak that encompassed her body and a loose slash that held a small feline carving underneath.“Considering that it is all that I have left, Shan’do. Yes, the weather does not bother me though, as my family has done well to keep me warm.” she replied in a far less hostile tone, stumbling along the frostbitten path she was being lead down.As the pair walked several miles down the path, Nedris glanced over his shoulder with a frown. “I dislike how those two follow us. It is not natural for frostsabers to wander this far away from their hunting grounds. I know not how you did it, but such a sight greatly disturbs me Shaythis.”“An’da and Min’da shouldn’t concern you, Shan’do. They merely wish to see to my safety… They’re curious, that is all.” she cooed, offering a wave of her hand back towards the two colossal beasts that followed in their footsteps, taking care as to not walk directly on the path, nor be too close to the two elves.Eventually Nedris and his student, Shaythis would make their way to a frozen waterfall at the other end of Winterspring; the land of eternal frost. “Alright, Shaythis. Like we’ve done countless times I want to see how far up these falls you can get before slipping down.” he pointed up the steep, unforgiving slope of Hyjal. And with a sigh, the girl would let the large cloak fall free from her body, exposing her bare to the frigid environment. Her body was riddled with countless scars with the most noticeable being the three large gouges on her right side from where she had been clawed by a Frostsaber. As she flexed her slowly deteriorating form, the olive green, thorny vines that encompassed her body as a extensive and intricate web of tattoos seemed to writhe about. A snarl left her lips before she dashed off towards the falls, bounding up the slick ground and digging her nails into the permafrost and black ice. With loud breaths she scaled up to the actual mountain side where she went about pressing her naked body against it to begin clambering up the cliff face.“Shaythis! Watch out for the-!” Nedris called out to try and warn her of a buildup of snow that hung several inches away from any solid rock, but by the time he managed the words her hand had grasped onto it and caused the snow to break apart, toppling the elf several feet down the mountain until she crashed hard into the frozen fall and slid down. “Thero’shan!” he cried out again as he rushed to his pupil’s side and held her up in his lap, draping her with the cloak. With a long prayer muttered, the old druid’s hands flashed green, grass and flowers sprouted amongst the earth to be consumed by the cold as he channeled his essence into healing his student’s injuries. Such a spell would leave him drained and out of energy as his student came back to consciousness and turned her head towards him.“I didn’t need your help, Shan’do.” she muttered, pushing herself off and away from Nedris and casting the cloak aside.“That is your problem, Shaythis. You think that you can do everything on your own, you refuse to take any form of assistance from others and that is a bad mindset to have. I do not know if it stems from your recent loss, or if it is something that runs much deeper but this behavior needs to stop.”A low snarl left the blind elf as she snapped back towards her Shan’do, baring her recently sharpened teeth. A feature that caught Nedris with a gasp of worry and confusion. Unsure if she had filed away her front teeth down to points or if such a change occurred through magic. “Thero’shan….” he muttered out, still in shock at the sight. With a deep breath, Nedris calmed himself. Resolve forming in his body as he took a single step forward. “I am sorry, Shaythis. I have failed you.”“Failed? /Shan’do/ you have not failed me, you’ve shown me the path!” she thrust her arms out to each side, exclaiming. “If it was not for you, I would still be blind and afraid! You made me what I am today, Shan’do and for that I should thank you.” Her words boomed out over the frozen landscape as Nedris kept walking forward, one hand hiding behind his back. Closing the distance he’d place one hand on his blind students shoulder to inform her of his close presence.As the ancient elf’s hand placed itself against Shaythis’ bare shoulder, a blood curdling snarl echoed through the trees. The two frostsabers that had been following them began dashing forth, swiftly closing the distance! In a flash, there was the wet sound of knife piercing flesh. In that flash, two bodies hit the now blood stained snow with a thud. “MIN’DA!” she shouted in a surprised rage. The female frostsaber, Neis’ta… ‘Min’da or Mother’ as Shaythis would call her lay on top of Nedris. Her massive body and weight forcing the wind out of the old man’s lungs. His ribs cracked from the force of impact, collar bone fractured by the dagger like claws pressing into his shoulders. The massive fangs mere centimeters away from the man’s shocked face.The dying eye’s of the cat were the last thing that Nedris would see before the world before him went black. A skull cracking ‘Thwap!’ The tree branch crashed so hard against the man’s forehead that the wood splintered and cracked.With scrambling feet, Shaythis moved away from the face of her unconscious mentor and to the side of Neis’ta. “Shhh.” she cooed as she pushed her surrogate mother off of her teacher and his blade. Her hand moved to press against the cat’s deep wound, her body trembled. Blood, there was so much blood. Wet, warm blood. Pooling in the snow, staining the fur, covering her hand and bare body as she shifted to press herself against Neis’ta. The druidess’ hands flashed a bright, natural green several times over the next few minutes as she tried desperately to save her companion. “Min’da… No.” She cried out, sobbing tearless cries as she tried first calling out to the wilds to help her save the cat, then she tried forcing them, bending them to her will in vain. But the forests would not respond to her pleas, only greeting her with the deafening silence. Ignoring her, in her most desperate time. “AAAAAAGH!” she roared into the night sky, bringing her blood soaked hands up to her face. Her nails dug into the flesh as she pulled down, mixing her purple tinged blood with the red from the great beast’s before her. Streams of this dark mixture fell from her face as bloody tears now fell from her recently, reinjured eyes. Her grief and despair turned into a blind rage.The voice that once told her to survive resurfaced in her mind. This time it spoke to her in a darker tone. “It is not your place to heal, no it is your place to take vengeance. Exact upon them the pain they’ve struck upon you… RIP AND TEAR!” it barked out, a demon entirely fabricated by her broken mind commanded. “I will guide you.” it reassured the girl.“No!” Shaythis snapped her head in the direction of the other saber. “He doesn't deserve such a fate, An’da.” she snarled. Ygos’ta in turn, ceased his motion of preparing to bite the head off of Nedris for killing his mate, a growl of protest rumbled from his throat before he slinked back in understanding and agreement.“You will have your time, An’da.” She sickly cooed, forcing herself up and away from Neis’ta and shambling towards her unconscious shan’do. Falling to her knees before him, she placed her hands upon the man and felt around, searching for not only the knives he bore, but anything else that she could use. From his hands, she pulled away leather, fingerless gloves. On top of them, each sat a dull moonsteel disk, three curved claws protruding from the leading edge. After sliding them onto her own hands she tore away the fur kilt he wore. His belt with various pouches would suit her nicely, herbs and other supplies to hold her through the rest of the winter. His leather wrappings of boots, easily refitted by rewrapping everything as well. Eventually the man was naked on the snow and her time for revenge would be upon both of them.With the time passing quickly as she set up, her Shan’do would begin to stir and awaken. At the outside of his knees, pressed right up against the flesh stood stakes. Buried deep within the ground so they would not budge. His wrists tied off with sharp briar to more stakes. Testing his bonds, Nedris tried to wiggle about, back and forth. His legs painfully stretched against the stakes at his knees with two more stakes down at the inside of his ankles. “Shaythis! Let me go, this instant! You’re making a grave mistake.” he hissed as he continued to struggle about until a sickening crunch filled his ears. A short yelp left the man’s throat before being snuffed out by the spew of bile that had risen as a result of the sudden and insurmountable pain that overcame him from the snapping of his knee. The joint, forced outwards to the side against the stake twitched uncontrollably, the leg, only attached by flesh, found itself at a near right angle around the stake from its breakage.“Oh yes, Shan’do! I just love to feel you squirm… Does it hurt?” She hissed before dashing her hand upwards, claws first towards Nedris’ groin. Nails roughly digging into the grundle before ripping forward and effectively hand scooping out his genitals in short, jerky movements. “Good, I am glad it hurts.” She hissed after she finished the scooping motion, harshly throwing her handful towards a nearby tree. There was a splatter, and a squish before the sounds of a beast eating meat came out, masked by the ear splitting screams of agony.Ygos’ta growled and snarled as he devoured the scraps that were thrown to him, perhaps himself reveling in the cruel revenge, or simply being a beast of instinct.“Enjoy An’da.” the blind elf hissed out towards the large frostsaber before moving forward on Nedris’ body, her hand extending up to cusp his jaw. Clawed fingers jabbed inward, her pointed hand extending under his chin and poking out of his mouth. “A quick death does not befit you, do’rodne” The elf growled, yanking her hand back to the sickening ripping and popping noise of Nedris’ jaw being pulled out of joint, the muscle and tendon being shredded and the lower half of his face being held on only by skin.A snarl left Shay’s gullet as she continued to yank and pull on her Shan’do’s dislocated jaw, at this point the man had all but passed out, or expired. With this realization, Shaythis gave off an irritated roar and lunged back. Her master’s jaw still in hand as she recoiled, stomping a foot down on his throat, the jaw released from its body and ripped forward with a wet, scritching sound as excess flesh came with it. What remained of Nedris’ tongue flopped about, having been torn in half from the removal of his jaw. Another piece discarded to the ground.“I curse you to never find peace in the afterlife, Nedris. May you walk this land forevermore, lost, confused and as angry as I. May you share my pain and my sorrow. My rage, my loss and with my damnation I will seek to damn you.”The elf’s damning words seemed to haunt the frozen wastes, her curse taking hold amongst the wailing winds and whipping snow blasts. With a blizzard seeming to pick up in response to her hatred, the land itself matching her feeling as she disappeared into the snowdrift. Ygos’ta trailing behind. Nedris’ jaw seeming to have vanished with the pair while the rest of his mutilated body was left for the scavengers to claim.
Inside an empty and old bottle of dwarven ale, there sits several tightly bound pieces of aged parchment with shaky handwriting in what seems to be Darnassian.Elune, goddess, Mother Moon… Please forgive me for what I have done, and for what I will do. For those that find this memoir, wherever it might end up, I pray that you do not fall victim to the tale in which I am going to relay. I ask that you do not seek vengeance for my fate, for I know what sin I have committed to bring about -its- wrath. I cast this message out to the world to speak of a monster, one that has taken away everything from me and still hungers for more. She will not stop until she is satisfied, and I will -not- give her anymore.Everytime I close my eye, I see it… Her. Sickly and gaunt, in the shape of an elf. But I am convinced that she is no Elf, no she is instead an aberration created by the wild forces of nature. An embodiment of wrath and hatred towards everything that would intrude against the untamed lands. I returned to this frozen wasteland after months of suffering, foolishly I might add. I could have brought forth a hunting party, but considering what I saw happen the last time.. I doubt it’d make much of a difference. I tracked this wrench down and ran a spear right through her belly! It slowed her down, yes. But even now as I write she hunts me down. Hungering for more of my blood. If the forces of the Alliance were not so stressed and occupied in the Outlands, I might have brought an entire legion with me. It has been a few days since I stuck her like a pig, and her howls of rage and agony filled the frozen lands. I got a few days head start, but there are no other hunters here, I am alone, and I swear that I can hear her snarls growing closer every hour. I managed to escape through the Furbolg’s expansive caverns, away from that frozen hell I once knew so well. They were not so keen to offer me any aid, aside from ushering me out into these fel tainted lands of northern Ashenvale, I might be able to make my way to Darkshore. I could climb down the rock face and cry for help. I could dash for Orgrimmar and pray that the Orc’s give me a swift death, anything that would take me away from that monster that stalks me now.You see, a few months ago. I was hired by some dwarvish hunters, alongside a Human cleric, named Aenor to track down a wild and rabid beast that had previously slaughtered a few Big Game hunters in the area, and while I despise hunters of that sort. I could not bear it on my conscious to know that there is an overly aggressive beast that only leaves mangled pieces scattered all over the lands. So I reluctantly agreed to aid them on this quest as their guide for I know all the hidden paths of the Hyjal slopes as if they were the back of my own hand. I should have walked away. I should have urged them to turn back sooner. If I had known they were going to cause all sorts of havoc on the local wildlife I would have. But I became enthralled with this human, and I would find myself talking to her for hours on end. She was so young, yet so wise, eager to learn about the land and our history here. She took great interest in my tales of Elune, that Min’da had passed onto me.Everytime she would giggle, her golden hair would flutter over her fair skinned face, all but another image tainted by that beast…We had found its hovel not too far from where the Frostsabers live, and those damned dwarves thought they would bag a few of the great cats as trophies, and so they decided they would rush in and start shooting wildly at the sabers. Homret, Torebreas and Londus I believe their names were. Aenor warned them not to do it, but they went around and shot every frostsaber they saw. I think they brought down ten of them before we heard that wicked snarling. Oh goddess that noise. It turned my blood cold when I first heard it, now it is all that I hear. The entire event was over in but a flash, and this purple skinned monster had slashed its way through Londus, that damned drunkard trophy hunter. Tearing him nearly and entirely in twain, as if an Ogre had tore him apart from the ankles. Homret tried to shoot it, but he missed, some marksman he is. And as the beast was tearing that dwarf apart, Torebreas, Aenor and myself made a dash for it. Trying to flee whatever this terrible being was, we knew it held nothing but malice towards us. Perhaps we had intruded on its hunting ground, taken its prey. No, that isn’t right because it wouldn’t have given chase afterwards. We had made our way down to the Gorge, by the border of Hyjal and freedom when the beast caught us in some dense tree lining. It looked as if the wilds itself were aiding this beast in its conquest as several vines tangled themselves around Torebreas and hung him from a branch, his stubby legs thrashing and kicking about before we heard that gut wrenching noise. I only caught a glimpse of it, the dwarf’s guts had been torn right out of his belly and splayed out onto the snow covered floor. We continued to run and Aenor tripped. I did my best to turn and grab her, pulling her up by her equally white and snowy robes so that we could continue our escape down the steep face of the gorge, back up and into the embrace of Hyjal.We looked back, and saw nothing. Thinking the beast had given up, our pace slowed as we exhaustedly traversed up into the freedom that the mountain offered. The moon was high above us and we pushed on for several more hours, until we could go no further. We set up a fire to stay warm, and for the first time ever, I felt as if I had fallen in love. With this human, this girl curled up against my body, my arms wrapped tightly around her waist and chest. Hugging her in close. I was not one for sleeping under the moon, as it was often when I found myself most awake, but I know she needed her rest and that I would guard her. But, the retreat had winded me so, and it only felt but like a second when I closed my eyes.I awoke to a scream, it was Aenor, she was in terror! My eye’s shot open and I found in the bitter snow. My arm’s wouldn’t move, there was something solid behind me. My head shot around and I saw trees, snow and trees for miles! Across from me, was my beloved Aenor, hunched over her side was that damned beast. That is when I first got a good look at her… It. Her skin was a light purple, marred with countless scars. All across her near bare body sat olive green markings, wrapping her form in thorned vines. Her clothing only covered her crotch and upper chest in black fur. Her hands each had a dull golden disk on the tops, these plates were ornately etched and each bore three curved protrusions. Metal claws, I immediately recognized them as a supplementary form of talon to make up for her lack of thick bone. Her waist bore two long, sharp knives, each holding an odd angle as if they serviced as a crude all in one tool. Next to these wicked daggers I saw countless carvings made from wood, at least I thought they were all wood, I would later find some of them to be made from bone. I shudder at the thought of how she got them. Each totem represented what looked like the Wild Gods, I spotted Goldrinn, Aggamaggan and even what I thought to be Ashamane. My gaze went up her frail looking and blood spattered body towards her wretched face. Her features hidden behind the thick ropes of green hair, knotted and frayed in heavy locks. Adorned with countless small decorations, more carvings, bone fragments, teeth of all kinds. I swear by elune I spotted elven teeth in her wild locks. I knew not for what she was now, but I knew she was once an elf.“Falore!” I called out to her, “Falore, please!” I begged to her in our native tongue. It caused her to pause and turn away from my dear Aenor, her face cast directly at me. I saw every disgusting feature of it, and to this day I still see her when I blink. Her mouth stained with blood and strings of flesh, her teeth all sharpened to points, still had traces of meat left in them. Bloody drool seeped from her mouth as I continued to try and speak to her, to reach her. “Falore, please. Don’t do this. We are innocent. We meant you no offense. You don’t have to- “ My words were cut short as I saw her palm one of those wicked daggers and without turning her attention from me, she drew it deep and straight across my Aenor’s throat. Her weeps and sobs turned nothing more than to foul gurgles as she choked on her own life fluid. Crimson stained her once white and magnificent robes, her head slumped forward as that damned demon crawled towards me.Low snarls escaped her throat, the bloody drool continued to fall and her fangs were bared towards me as she slowly made her way to me. Her hands padded deliberately in the snow, her feet following behind. The bloody knife still in her hand, and as she drew closer I saw the black strip of cloth run across her eyes. At the time, I did not think anything of her blindness, but now the more I concentrate on it, the more it confuses me.I felt her hot breath against my face as she pressed her knife wielding arm up against the tree I was leaned against. I saw the thick green hair of her gore stained pits as she lowered herself face to face with me. Her forked tongue crested across her mouth and dragged itself across my cheek. I felt myself waver at her presence, and I croaked out again. “Falore, please.” My plead was met with a sharp pain over my shoulder, I felt my body raise as she pulled me to my feet and stabbed her knife through my trapezius muscle into the bark behind me.My breath was stolen from me as I tried to scream, I found her sharp mouth pressed against mine, and she inhaled my screams. Sucking the air right out of me, while rattling that knife she had stuck through my body. I felt her pointed teeth bite into my lower lip as she yanked back, tearing out a chunk of my flesh. I heard her chew and grind my body slowly in her mouth before she reached into her maw to pull the skin free and dangle it before my eyes with a sick smirk. A flick of her fingers sent it flying away into the snowy woods and her gore stained hand caressed the left side of my face.“Look at me athfiore. Ash Karath! Nuomr Ri. Befer ri.” She croaked, in a hoarse tone, leaning in deeper and biting down on my ear, leaving another mark upon my flesh. “I am your nightmare now.” she chimed, a sing songy tone overtook her as she cackled. I felt her hand press harsher against my left face, her middle finger found my eye, and I felt a sharp pressure as her nail worked its way under my eyelid, then her finger pushed forth. Scooping over my eye and into my socket as she pulled back. I felt her yank my eye right out of my face, I saw the palm of her hand for only a second before everything went black for what felt an eternity. When my vision adjusted a bit, blurry still, but I saw my dislocated eye dangling in front of my face. She held the stem between her fingers and bounced it around a few times before bringing it up to her mouth and clamping it between her horrific teeth. After adjusting herself to be at my face again she bit down on my eye, pursing her lips forward as if intentionally directing the juice and viscera to splatter across my face. I cringed at the feeling of the multi color juice hitting my skin, my body couldn’t muster another scream, and I could only silently wait for her to put me out of my suffering, so at least I could be with my Aenor once more.I felt once more, the sharp pain of the knife in my shoulder, as it was ripped free from the tree and my body, it cut through the vines that bound me like rope. Biting into my flesh as she drew the blade down my body, freeing me from her bonds.“You…” she hissed as she pushed me into the snow and bore her weight down on my body. “You will live, you will tell them, and you will bring more fools to me to share the fate of those that would defile these lands.” Her words growled out in a beastial snarl as she drove her sharpened teeth into my shoulder blade, tearing away another bite of my flesh to sate her hunger.I tried to wiggle out from underneath her, but she wouldn’t budge. Not until I felt those curved, metal claws rake across the back of my legs, over my ankles. My blood stained the snow and I felt her shift about as she brought her forked tongue down and over my wound. Pressing into it, and writhing about my wound. Pressing each end into opposite sides of my muscle as she bit and chewed one of my calves to a mangled mess. With a moment passed I felt her weight disappear as she left the scene. Letting me lay there in agony, I waited for nearly an hour before deciding to use my one good arm to drag myself away. She knew what she was doing in leaving my left arm mostly unhindered. She wanted me to suffer, but to survive. She wanted this tale to be told.I crawled for days through the snow and blizzards until I came across a small camp of adventurers. They were shocked, not expecting more than to clear away rabid owlbeasts that had gone berserk, or aggressive Furbolg. They rushed to my aid, and sought to bring me to safety. My vision blacked out several times a moment, and each time it went fuzzy I could swear I saw her, a sight that brought me lucid with a snap and scream. But they assured me that I was alone with them.Flung over the haunch of a horse, I was carried across the snow to a tiny village, where the town medics quickly tended to my wounds and placed me in a warm bed at the heart of the settlement. They were confused at my tale, and thought me out of my mind, telling me I was mauled by a beast. Assuring me that I was safe at long last, and needed time to recover from my wounds, I was trapped in the bed for weeks on end when a heavy snowstorm rolled through. It wasn’t unusual for these lands, but even still it was an unsettling event.I heard tapping on the window of my room, and in the flashes of light.. By elune! I SAW HER! Outside my window, she had something in her hand. She had followed me to the town, and she was hunting me. Making sure I upheld my involuntary bargain with that damned demon!I screamed, as loud as I could. My voice had been found at long last and I used it in a torrent of guttural cries of terror. By the time the village had amassed around the house I was in, my caretaker at my side, my throat was bloody and shredded. They tried to comfort me, and all I could do aside from scream was point at the window. A guard walked over to it and peered outside, she said there was nothing there and then alongside my caretaker promised to stay with me the entire night.When the morning came, I heard a cry from the guard. My body shot up and I saw her staring outside the window. At the tree where I saw…I saw my Aenor. I saw her face, it was stuck to the tree outside my window and positioned in a way as to stare at me through the night. The damned savage carved her face right off with her bangs and stuck it there to taunt me!I was bedridden for quite a few months before I was able to stir and move around, and I dedicated my time in that village to hunt that beast down myself. They started to believe my stories now, but urged me not to go. It was done, I needed to move on and take my blessing of life as a start to something new.I should have listened, because now I hear her snarls grow closer and I’ve not but a pocket knife to defend myself. She followed me all the way into Felwood, at the other end by the falls where I make my camp now. I should have known she’d come for me if I sought her out again. She bides her time, and I can hear her call out to me. “I am your nightmare now…” she’d whisper in my ear across the windI will not let her take my life, no. I won’t give her the satisfaction, she will have to live on knowing that I wounded her and she will not be able to take revenge upon me for that.So I seal this memoir and my last testament in this bottle I took from the scene upon my return so that someone might know my story, and I sign this.Iyelir Stormscribe.Here is where I will take my stand and plummet off the falls to the rocks below so that she may not take me…Elune, forgive me.
Fire filled the night’s sky, screams of terror filled the air. A twisted crusade of green skin and rotting bodies marched on a small house that was tucked deep in the woods away from any settlements, thought hidden from the growing conflict that spanned the world.
“Burn them out!” A low, raspy voice barked out, his hand thrusting forward to call the attack. And with that order given, the flames spread towards the cottage. Burning arrows rained down all over, as the war party moved forward.
Inside the home, a scared little child huddled up against her father in the back most corner of the tiny home, his hand cupped over her mouth to mask their presense. “Elune protect us.” He choked out through the filling smoke.
Outside the cabin charged a sentinel, on leave to raise her child rather than go off to die in some war. Arrows flew out rapidly from her bow, piercing the thick chests of the orcish war raiders. Some of them, fell to the rapid return volley while others simply shrugged it off, taunting out. “I will enjoy taking my turn with you, puny elf!”
And in a flash, the battle was over. The sentinel found herself swiftly overrun by the Orcs, while their forsaken companion pushed past them, happy to leave the girl to her fate amongst the orcs. “Leave her in one piece, she will serve the Dark Lady well.” He hissed out, his hand pressed against the door of the burning home. A fel green flare of magic causing the wood to melt and splinter away.
“An'da no!” The childs voice broke as she found herself alone now. Her father, by no means at all a warrior was quickly outmatched by the forsaken warlock. His hand flung towards the charging elf, and with out even granting him a glance, snapped his finger and turned the lad into green and black ash on the floor.
Before the undead could move on the child, letting her join the fate of her father, there was a commotion outside. The orcs screamed in what could only be described as pure horror. Caught with their pants down… literally. They’re guts strewn across the scorched homestead.
The only thing in sight for the forsaken was the fluid leaking Elf that the orcs had been so eager to distract themselves with. “You!” The undead barked “You did this!” His voice trembled as his hands grew bright with flame.
Though, as he was about to incinerate the accused elf, he felt something. Weird… was this pain? The flames in his hands died as he looked down to see a short, cleaver like scimitar skewered through his chest, and before he could react a second one dashed over the back of his neck, severing his head.
Step by step, a twisted figure stepped forward. Bathed in the blood of her foes, a worn blindfold covering her eyes. “By Elune!” The broken sentinel cried out, barely ablento move a limb. Her white eyes, wide open as the creature knelt beside her.
“Shh, you will join her soon.”
With all the noise dying dowwn, and the smoke being too much to bear, the amall child forced herself from her hiding place, to burst out of the cabin. “Min'da!” She cried out, stopping short as a blood smeared, blind and feral looking elf snatched her up into her arms. “She didn’t make it child.” The creature of the woods bounced the girl up and down in her grasp. “Come, you are safe with me.” She cooed, forcing the now sobbing child’s face into the crook of her neck. “The wilds will protect you…”
A sharp, toothy grin grew across the Kaldorei shaped monster’s face. Purple blood staining her chin in contrast to the putrid gore of the Orcs. Stained predatory teeth glistened in the moonlight as she departed. One hand resting on the back of the childs head, gently scratching her scalp with sharp claws. The other holding up her rear as to not drop her onto the forest floor.
“The wilds will keep you safe.” Her rasped, scratchy voice hissing through the night.
Thump thump, thump thump. The drums of war sounded over the lands, the Horde had laid their siege in Darkshore against the Night Elves. Battle raged on with heavy casualties on both sides, it was a stalemate but there was no end in sight.“You wanted your honorable death, Elder! Now get out there and die for your horde!” a Warsong commander barked out towards a frail old man. A blindfold strapped across his eyes, a large ragged banner of the horde on his back and a long, heavy looking sword in his hand. The blade alight with pungent grease, blazed brightly in the night.“There is no honor in this war.” he replied, twisting about and before the commander could even reply, plunged his blade deep into the man’s gut. A sharp twist of the weapon and there was a spray of Orcish gore as the burning weapon carved its way up the Warsong’s chest cavity and out of his brain.“Traitor!” barked out a cacophony of orcish mouths, a rain of arrows aimed at the Blind Blademaster joined their cries. One enraged grunt stepped up and managed to break the banner in two as he swung his axe towards the Old man’s back. Though with such a poor strike the blade barely managed to bite into the Blademaster’s flesh as he waved his arm, cascading his blade back towards the Grunt, swiftly relieving him of his face.Without even offering a second thought, the elderly Orc began to walk away. A pincushion of arrows sticking out of his body, shifting and jabbing at nerves as he moved. Though his stoic face would show no pain as he left the battlefield, an exile of the Horde and bound for death, but he would not meet his death in such a place of dishonorable combat. No, he would venture far and deep away from the field of war, through Ashenvale, up into Felwood and eventually Winterspring before the Old orc would lean himself up against a tree and accept his fate.It would seem though, that the Orc’s presence had not gone unnoticed in the land. The air itself seemed to turn hostile as the faint sound of snow shifting down ever so lightly was picked up by his aging ears, and he knew that his death indeed would not come as peacefully as he had previously accepted. He was being approached from all angles, assassins were creeping in. So slowly, the old blademaster rose to his feet and pulled free his blade, drawing its spine harshly against a flint wedge so it would ignite straight away rather than in the heat of battle.“Die a coward's death!” shouted one of the assassins as he plunged a poison covered blade into the Blademaster’s back. “FOR THE HORDE!” another cried out, as he raked a jagged claw like weapon across the man’s stomach, dropping down a heavy coating of blood onto the snow. “Finish this swiftly!” the third voice cried as he moved in to plunge a long, steel spike through the Blademaster’s neck, though such an attack was quickly halted by the lunge of a hulking Frostsaber, tackling the man to the ground, a massive paw smashing down against his temple and no doubt scrambling the brain matter on the inside like a shaken egg.Joining the frostsaber into the fray was what could only be described as a monster in the shape of a nearly naked elf, brandishing two large, hook like axes. Shrieking and twisting about, the creature found herself being body checked by one of the Orcish assassins. The claw like weapon thrusting out towards her chest as the Assassin took a step forward, the sensation of four jagged daggers plunging into her body didn’t even seem to stop the Elf as she forced herself forward onto the Orc’s arm, one of her axes crashing down against his arm at the elbow nearly severing it free of his arm. Reeling back, the assassin yanked his gimped arm away from the feral elf.With two out of the three assassins occupied, the Blademaster took a hard step and threw his shoulder forward as he crouched down a bit to throw the man off of his back, leaving the dagger still in its place. A cough left his lips as he charged in the man’s direction, brandishing that burning sword in a low guard, poised to strike up and bisect the assassin.As the Old orc’s blade cut through one, the Elf had thrown herself at the other. The heavy dreadlocks covering her face parting just enough to reveal her split tongue and predatory maw that was plunged into her target’s neck with in the blink of an eye. Snarling and thrashing about, the Assassin’s throat was swiftly removed from the flesh and soon dangled from her maw before disappearing down into her stomach with the wet, squishy noise of chewing.In a matter of seconds, the fight was over. There was no glorious combat, no intricate dueling or footwork, and the mess that was left as a mark in the snow telled such a tale that would shortly be forgotten by the land.“You.” The elf growled out, pointing to the mangled bodies of the Orcs around her, as the hulking saber stalked to be beside his companion. “One of them.” she snarled out, walking towards the Blademaster while twirling her axes.“No.” The Orc shook his head, to unknowing blind eyes. “They lack honor.” he muttered, punctuating his statement with the loud thunk of his blade returning to its heavy wooden scabbard. “I stand against the attack on your home, they are no longer my kin.”“Not home.” The elf shook her head, gesturing out in the direction of Darkshore and where the battle was raging on. “This. Home.” she continued on, speaking in a slow, choppy format as she brushed past the Blademaster to a snow mound where she could go about crudely treating her wounds with razorthorn seeds. Plunging them into the sides of her wound before clasping a glowing green hand over it, causing the seeds to rapidly sprout into thorny vines that pulled her injury shut.“More will come-”“More die than.” she interrupted with a guttural growl. Causing the Blademaster to sigh and shake his head.
“You can’t take them all on your own. Together though, we might die a glorious death, defending your ‘home’. “ The Orc chuckled and reached his hand around to yank the blade free of his back. Before he could further inspect it, the savage elf had dashed up to snatch the blade out of his hand, bringing it up to her nose.“Poison.” She hissed out. “Trollish revenge poison.” she added on in her native tongue. She turned about to walk away from the Orc. “You. Dead. Already” she returned to her broken and low common.With a knowing nod, the Orc turned and stepped to follow the elf. “I am aware of this, they were prepared to die. It was their back up, and until that poison kills me.” The Blademaster brought his sheathed blade up to rest on his shoulder. “I will continue fighting until I join my ancestors.”With a snort the elf kept walking. “Them, cut off. Die.” She drew a finger over her throat and shook her head. “Nightmare, fear. Us. Monsters.” she rambled on while making her way towards the pass that would lead her into the corrupted forests of northern Ashenvale. “Here. Wait for them, cross cave.” The elf clicked, squatting down at the foot of the Furbolg’s cave, which for the time being seemed to have been evacuated to escape the war that was sweeping the area.The Orc shook his head disapprovingly. “No, we cross the cave and wait for them on the other side, I will not partake in an ambush. They must know who they face at the start.” he spoke out, with all the misguided wisdom of an Orc from the old world.“Foolish.” The Elf snorted as she began to descend into the cave with her Saber companion. “An’da, us through, swiftly.” She muttered out in her native tongue before stepping back to grasp at the old Orc to guide him to the massive cat. “We ride, fast. Woosh.” she spoke at him, in a seemingly commanding tone.At the exit of the cave, the group didn’t have to wait terribly long before the follow up forces arrived to march into Winterspring. Thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump, thump, thump the drums of war battered on along the pass. “We make our stand here then, Elf.” the orc hummed out, drawing his great, burning blade for what would be the last time.Wordlessly the Feral Kaldorei reached into one of her pouches to grasp at a few glass vials. A few shakes of each and she would decork the first, containing a thin and clear liquid. One that she drank down with a look of disgust across her exposed lower face. After dropping that vial she would bring the second one up to her mouth and bite into the glass, causing it to shatter and coat her teeth with a thick, green oil. Spitting a few times to clear the shards from her mouth, the Elf drew her axes and lowered herself to a crouch while thrumming a tribal and ancient chant from her throat, intermixing it with growls and snarls.Not wanting to wait for the Elf to continue hyping herself up for battle, the Old blademaster dashed down into the ranks of the encroaching warband, his blade dashing through their front lines like a hot knife through warm butter. Following shortly after was the elf and her Frostsaber, charging into combat to aid in savagely rending through the ranks. The shouts and orders of the Warband leaders drowned out by the noise of battle, the band of Orcs with some trolls and undead surrounded the trio, forcing them to fight back to back. Spears thrust in at them, poking and rending open wounds while restricting their ability to fight back, Arrows rained down from the trees to pepper the Blademaster’s body as he let out a warcry, summoning up a trio of clones to give them leverage to continue mowing through the ranks.The arrow ripped through the Blademaster’s shoulder, stripping away the fletchings as it came down as a heavy dart straight into the Sabercat’s neck. Dark energies swirled around the shaft of the shot arrow before dissipating into nothingness against the still air. A pitiful groan left the cat’s mouth as he slumped over.The world at that point stood still, the battle ceased in mid swing, the bugs and birds stopped flying. The entire forest was still for all of but a split second as that death throe hit the Elf’s ears. Already under the influence of a berserking potion, she let out a deafening shriek that caused the battlefield to collectively flinch. A thick white fur began to cover her body, her hands extending into long pointed claws. Mouth pushing out into a rabid, foaming snout. The blindfold that covered her own eyes ripping away to show nothing but bleeding sockets behind her darkening dreadlocks. Growing in stature to tower over even the tallest Orc, humbling the mightiest of Ogre. Her arms bulged out as spear tipped hands thumped against the floor. The ear splitting shriek turned into a deep and guttural roar, one of dominance and blood thirst. The twin pair of hooked axes fell to her feet and shattered underneath her weight as she crawled forward. The enemy forces swiftly moving out of her way in both shock and fear of what they were witnessing. This mutated, out of proportion, wolf bear thing that stood hunched before them. An abomination of Nature’s wrath, manifest.Screams of horror filled the air for not but a few moments, bodies stacked at the pass in a wreckless pile of blood and gore. Poison finally crippled the Blademaster. In the monstrosity’s grasp was the Dark Ranger who had fired the arrow. Struggling for her life as her head was slowly being crushed by that gigantic palm, the spear like claws piercing her undead neck. Before her head was crushed into a puddle of bone and decaying goop, she managed to thrust a barbiturate laced arrow into the creature’s chest as a last ditch effort to save herself. But it was all too late as her headless body hit the floor, the enraged elf stumbled back. Fur fluffing off of her body, fluttering away into the air, covering the ground and soaking up the blood of the fallen.Had it been mere seconds, or days? It was unclear to her as she came back into consciousness, reeling from the loss of her companion she lurched up only to be caught by the orc. “No.” was all he said before being brushed off.“An’da.” she muttered, crawling to where she could sense her fallen friend. She clutched at his fur and softly whimpered for her loss.“He is at peace now, elf. Soon I hope to join him, and together we will await you to walk with the ancestors. They’ve seen your actions and welcome you into their arms.” The blademaster croaked out, falling back onto an elbow and coughing. “Tell me your name, so that I may record it amongst the Ancestors. To be honored by name.”“Shaythis.” She hissed out, while prying free one of the Saber’s great fangs. “That was An’da… Papa.” She continued. Bringing the tooth up to press against the fang that sat in her hair. “And Min’da.” Pressing the fang through one of her braids she walked back over to the dying orc. “You.” She barked out, resuming her commanding tone.“Daichagar of the Burning Blade.” He coughed out, a smirk of remembrance crossing his face as the Elf sounded slightly familiar.Without saying another word the elf pulled back her dreadlocks to show the scar that ran from across her eyes. “I see.” She spoke lowly, bringing her hand down to the Orc’s face to tear off his sash to replace the one she had lost. With her new blindfold in place, Shaythis moved around to sit at the Orc’s side, pulling him up into her lap. “You. Rest now.” She cooed out, draping her arms over his shoulders…‘Snap!’ the Orc’s lifeless body fell to the ground, his head turned to the side.The Blind elf would go about collecting the rest of her saber’s teeth before dragging him to lay next to the Orc. Covering the two with twigs, dead leaves and branches she would take up the Orc’s sword and swiftly draw it from its sheath, throwing that too onto the funeral pyre. The stench of blazegrease filled the air as she cast the burning weapon to the pile and turned to walk away.